Heath Pearce Lands In………….Turkey!

American international Heath Pearce has signed for Turkish First Division side Bursaspor (just south of Istanbul).

The Gators are currently in fifth place on seven points after the first four matches of the season.

For more details, check out LFV pal Greg Seltzer’s report over on his blog No Short Corners.

A Few Things…

I’m sick as a dog today so here are a few things to tide you over.

DaMarcus Beasley is not ready to leave Rangers in Walter Smith’s January fire sale.

In yet another sign that Fulham’s Clint Dempsey is finally coming into his own, a London paper calls him the “One to Watch” in this weekend’s match against West Ham.

And the nasty flu bug working its way around Europe appears to have hit three Hansa Rostock players particularly hard, including American defender Heath Pearce. The crud appears to be keeping Pearce out of training, just at the time when players are trying to prove themselves to new coach Dieter Eilts. Let’s hope Heath gets well soon and can get back into the groove.

Get well soon Heath!

Zizzo: Would "Gladly" Go To Rostock

Germany’s national daily Bild is reporting that new Hansa Rostock manager Dieter Eilts still has his eyes on three new players to strengthen the side and Hannover’s young American Sal Zizzo is one of them. In previous weeks, reports out of Hannover indicated that the club was not keen on selling the 21 year-old San Diego native.

At the same time, Hansa may be able to take Zizzo on loan since he has primarily seen action with the reserve team this season (11 appearances) while only seeing three first team matches as a substitute in one cup and two league matches.

After making a strong showing at the 2007 U-20 World Championships, Zizzo’s European pro career has gone reasonably well but he appears ready to kick it into the next gear. When asked about the potential move, Zizzo told Bild: “I’d gladly go to Rostock.”

Eilts appears to have the pedigree to bring Hansa’s ship back on course, having previously led Werder Bremen to Bundesliga and German Cup wins.

Pearce Gets New Coach At Rostock

Just a week after Heath Pearce’s Hansa Rostock was crushed 6-0 at Kaiserslutern, a new savior has appeared in manager Dieter Eilts. After picking up only two points in their last five matches, a savior seems to be just what they need.

This is good news for American defender Heath Pearce, whose team is mired in 14th place and instead of seeking promotion back to the Bundesliga, is in danger of relegation to the 3rd division.

Eilts, a former German international with 31 caps, had a storied career at Werder Bremen making 397 appearances and was best know for his grit and incredible work rate in midfield and defense. Until recently he was the coach of Germany’s U-21 squad before the federation let him go three weeks ago. Eilts has always had a reputation as a level-headed player and coach and he is expected to bring this approach to the troubled Hansa side.

Eilts makes his coaching debut for Hansa tonight in a nationally televised match against 1860 Munich (Gregg Berhalter’s club). Pearce, suspended for two matches after a hard foul in last week’s loss to Kaiserslautern, will watch from the stands.

Bundesliga: Pearce Suspended For Two Matches

Hansa Rostock’s American defender Heath Pearce has been suspended for two matches for a vicious 64th minute foul he committed against Sidney Sam during his team’s 6:0 debacle against 1FC Kaiserslautern on Monday night.

Rostock came into the season with big plans to climb back to the First Bundesliga but now they’ll be fighting to prevent relegation to the third division. The club fired coach Frank Pagelsdorf after a slow start and has not fared much better under caretaker Juri Schlünz. There was talk of Thomas Doll or Lothar Matthäus being hired but now it seems no one wants the job. Meanwhile, the Hansa board announced last week that they “have a clear profile of what type of coach we want.”

Let’s hope for Pearce’s sake that they don’t take too long in their profiling efforts, otherwise, they’ll have a hard time living up to the club’s current motto: “Unsinkable since 1965.”

Pearce will miss the match against Greg Berhalter’s 1860 Munich and the following week against FC Augusburg. His next chance to play in Second Bundesliga action will be December 8th against 1FC Nuernberg, the former team of Joe-Max Moore and Tony Sanneh.

During the same match, Kaiserslautern’s American keeper Luis Robles kept a clean sheet in a solid 90 minute performance.

Pearce’s Rostock Coach Fired

Like a few other American players this past weekend, Hansa Rostock defender Heath Pearce had to watch from the bench as his team drew a home match with VFL Osnabruck 2-2 in Second Bundesliga play. The Hansa board and fans, after years spent in the First Bundesliga expected to be further along by now in their quest for promotion back to the top flight, not languishing in 12th place with only three wins in 12 matches.

So, this morning Hansa fired coach rank Pagelsdorf and will look to start anew. The 50 year-old former HSV coach was let go at a press conference this morning in Rostock and according to Kicker, Thomas Doll is ready to step in and take over. Doll, a longtime Hansa player back in the 1980s, is seen as a caretaker rather than a long-term solution given his spotty coaching record.

Pagelsdorf is the third coach to be fired in the Second Bundesliga so far this year, following Thomas von Heesen at 1. FC Nürnberg and Rudi Bommer at MSV Duisburg.

So, what does this mean for Pearce? Pagelsdorf was the coach who brought him on so he’ll need to work even more to prove himself to Doll. That said, recent national team call ups have left Pearce out of the side and he appears to be having a tougher time getting reintegrated. Thus, a fresh start may give Pearce a chance to step up and reclaim his starting position at left back.

Doll has a reputation for being hard-headed coach and not much of a tactician – his substitution decisions at Dortmund last year left many observers scratching their heads. He is capable of motivating some (but not all) of his players but he always gives everyone a chance. One thing with Doll, if you get in his doghouse, there is no coming out. For Pearce, the trick will be to make sure he never gets in there in the first place.

Bradley, ‘Gladbach Get First Road Win Of Season

It took 12 weeks but Borussia Moenchengladbach finally recorded its first road win of the season by downing Arminia Bielefeld 2-0. Michael Bradley went the full 90 and contributed offensively and defensively to the effort – a positive sign after only five previous appearances, mostly as a substitute.

‘Gladbach coach Hans Meyer changed five players from last week’s 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt but it was German youth phenom Marko Marin who scored both goals for the Foals, staring with a brilliant 6th minute free kick from 20 meters out which tucked just inside the left post. Marin’s second came in the 80th minute when he mis-kicked a one-timer which still found the back of the net.

The three points pulled Gladbach out of the relegation zone with 10 points and left Bielefeld in 17th place with 8 points. The Foals will need to collect at least 28 points in their remaining 26 matches if they hope to stay up in the Bundesliga. It won’t be easy, especially with next week’s test coming against Bayern Munich.

Up north in Hamburg, Neven Subotic and the other Borussia, Dortmund that is, fought hard but fell 2-1, despite the Bosnian-American defender contributing to several dangerous chances and taking two shots of his own.

Elsewhere in Germany tonight, a nagging back injury will keep Grover Gibson out of Rot Weiss Ahlen’s side in their Second Bundesliga match against Duisburg. Tomorrow afternoon, Heath Pearce and Hansa Rostock take on VFL Osnabruck in their own DKB Arena.

Transfer Season: By Midnight We’ll Know

OK folks, now that Michael Bradley has found a new home at Borussia Monchengladbach, we still have 12 hours before we know if Oguchi Onyewu is going to PSG, Espanyol, Lazio, Bologna, or someplace England. The Italian deadline is at 6PM (12 PM EDT) so if its a Serie A move, expect to know earlier in the day. After the rollercoaster ride that Gooch’s last transfer turned out to be, we’ll need to hear the fat lady signing on this one before we know for sure.

We’ll also soon know whether Heath Pearce will leave Hansa Rostock for greener pastures. My spidey sense (which seems to be spreading like an epidemic these days) tells me that Pearce will stay at Hansa since the club has mentioned him as someone they are counting on to help them win promotion back to the Bundesliga.

Also in Germany, Die Welt is reporting that VFL Wolfsburg’s American Kamani Hill is on the auction block but its not clear yet who the suitors may be.

Regarding Pablo Mastroeni, while there has been interest from Cagliari and some Serie B clubs, word on the street is that any move would not happen until the January 2009 transfer window. My spidey sense places Catania and Palermo on the list of interested clubs as well.

So, don’t wait for the mailman, just stay tuned here…